The 49ers are likely to add an edge rusher in the 2026 NFL Draft in a fortnight’s time, but they have added some veteran depth at the position with a low-risk signing.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday that the Niners have signed Cam Sample to a one-year deal.
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Sample was a fourth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021 and has seven sacks in 61 career games.
The former Tulane defender missed the entire 2024 season with a torn Achilles before posting two sacks, a pair of tackles for loss, and a forced fumble last season.
Per Pro Football Focus, Sample had 12 pressures in 2025, having recorded 22 in the 2022 and 2023 campaigns.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Sample signing is that he has experience of playing snaps, albeit not a high number, as an interior rusher.
San Francisco has not re-signed Yetur Gross-Matos, who was the 49ers’ most dangerous interior pass rusher when healthy last season, with his spotty injury record likely a factor in that decision.
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While Sample has previously suffered a major injury, he has played at least 14 games in each of his four seasons in which he was on the active roster.
That durability is in stark contrast to that of Gross-Matos, who managed to feature in only 19 regular-season games in his two seasons with San Francisco.
Sample played only 13 snaps as a defensive tackle last season, but the fact that he has experience in that role and that his body has typically held up over the course of a 17-game season suggests the 49ers may be taking a low-stakes bet on him as a player who can excel in a similar role to Gross-Matos.
If nothing else, Sample provides useful veteran depth at a position where the 49ers were looking light ahead of the draft.
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Kyle’s update, 4:30 p.m. PT:
In 2023, Sample started every game for the Bengals. Head coach Zac Taylor said after Sample’s injury that he “played a lot of different roles.” Sample’s role was reduced to a part-time player in 2026, only played 225 snaps across five games. Sample is the “big end,” ala Arik Armstead.
He played 172 snaps on the edge compared to 53 inside. Sample’s pressure rate was better on the edge, at 10.3 percent compared to 7.7 percent. Most of his production came from playing on the outside, despite lining up inside. Thirteen of Sample’s 14 stops came from the edge, as did both of his sacks.
Sample is listed at around 272 pounds. That’s a stark contrast from the 254-pound Bryce Huff that was defending the run last season for the 49ers. As Nicholas said above, this gives the 49ers another pass rusher who can play inside and out, but unlike Gross-Matos, Sample’s best work comes at his natural position.
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That should allow the rookie defensive linemen from last season to rotate and learn on the inside next to Osa Odighizuwa on obvious passing downs. A depth signing, but one with experience and the body type the Niners need to get to passing downs.
